The Ministry of Local Government in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion with other stakeholders will conduct a month long campaign form the 23^rd November across the Country, to sensitize the population on the benefits of civil registration and encourage them to register their civil statuses on time.

This exercise was organized following the amendment of the Law governing persons and family. This law was amended to align it with the country’s Constitution and current realities as mentioned by the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Nyirasafari Esperance, “The old Law was not gender sensitive at all, for instance it required the presence of the father as prerequisite for the registration of the child. Mothers had no rights to register the birth of their children.” Minister said.

As a consequence, many children were left without identification and were denied some of their rights and national services since planning focuses on the known registered children leaving out those that don’t appear in the registry.

The Law has also simplified the process of birth registration by extending the registration period from 15days to 30days and omitting the existing fines for delay and other courts processed involved. Parents were delighted and said they will have no more excuse for not registering their children’s birth on time.

Minister Kaboneka Francis of Local Government said that “the Government wants to ensure that no child born in Rwanda is denied the right to be recorded in the civil registry, with or without both parents.” He noted that the exercise will help to establish the exact number of children born in the country, which will consequently help in proper planning at the policy level.

If this exercise is successful, it will ensure accurate figures are captured to ease national planning, among other benefits. It also makes it easy when seeking other services such as getting a passport, claiming for pension scheme, processing a loan among others as an adult.